Month: February 2018

Today I want to list the proper diaper changing procedures. But before we can begin, there is one very important item we must take care of.

What item is that, Elaine? Well, silly, We need to wash and dry our hand. We don’t want to get germs on the baby, now do we?
Oh yeah, also we need to lay out another cover and diaper just in case. In fact, why don’t I just tell you the supplies you will need. That way you can have them ready when it’s time to change the baby.

You will need:

Diaper cover

Folded cloth diaper

Snappi fastners

Wipes/wet cloth

Trash bag/can

Unfastening

First thing to do is unfasten the diaper cover, (that would be the colorful one) and pull it down. The next step would be to unfasten the dirty diaper, (usually white) and also pull it down. If you are changing a little boy it would be a great idea to have either another clean absorbent cloth or something to cover his penis so you don’t get sprayed by flying urine.

Dirty/Replace

Now the reason you brought the front of the diaper down is so you could use it to clean the baby’s bottom. You will fold the dirty diaper in half just for a moment. Plus this will give the baby extra padding.

Clean the baby’s front with a cloth/wipe. Remember if it’s a girl to use the front to back wiping method to keep germs out of her vagina.

Now gently lift the baby’s bottom off the changing surface by holding both ankles in one hand and lifting very carefully and gently in an upward direction. If your baby has pooped, grab another wipe so you can clean the bottom. Lift the legs as described before and be sure to clean in the creases of their wiggly legs and thunder thighs.
If there is time to let them air dry that’s great but if not then just pat them dry with a clean cloth. If it’s needed at this time you can apply some diaper cream but make sure it is approved to work with cloth diapers. Remember you only need a thin layer!

Last thing is you will want to remove the soiled diaper and cover if necessary. Remember though, Safety first, so if you are changing the baby on a changing table just put the soiled diaper to the side. You can deal with it later when the baby is safely off the table.

Clean/Newborn

Now we will discuss now to line up the clean diaper plus touch on the difference for a newborn.

Place the clean diaper underneath your baby so the back edge is lined up at about the waist. You will pull the front part to the baby’s tummy. One note here, if you baby is a boy you will want to point his penis down so he is less likely to pee over the top of the diaper.

Then for Newborns, be sure the back of the diaper is higher than the front. You don’t want the fabric to rub on the umbilical cord stump. Many newborn diapers and covers will have snaps or fold-down areas for the cord.

Well now that your baby is back in a clean, fresh diaper you will need to wash your hand again. Just in case you got some germs on you while changing their diaper. Once you have the baby in a safe location you can go back to take care of that dirty diaper. Of course, you will want to take care of that before you thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water.

Tips

Now here are a few tips that I hope you will find useful.

Make sure the middle of the diaper that is between the baby’s legs is spread as wide as possible. Too much material in that area can cause discomfort and rashes. After all I wouldn’t want to walk around with a bunch of material between my legs either. Just makes sense to me.

Fasten the cloth diaper with fasteners or pins. Make sure the diaper is tight but not so tight that it pinches. Diapers like per-folds and flats that you fold will need fasteners but there are some that have built-in snaps or tabs.

Once the clean diaper is on, you will need to put on an outer cover. You can either use the one the baby had on, if it is still clean or put a clean one on. Just simple fasten the cover with with its snaps or tabs.

Conclusion

So today we talked about the proper diaper changing procedures. Of course the very first step is to wash and dry your hands. This is important so we don’t spread germs to the baby as discussed in the beginning. We covered all the step-by-steps to changing a cloth diaper. If anyone still has question a video has been included which should further explain this procedure. These steps will vary slightly with the style of diaper used and the age of the child.

If you have any questions or need a hand, feel free to leave a comment below and I will be more than happy to help you out.